Number of specimens sampled per species.

<p>19% of the species were 'singletons', while the median representation lay at 4 individuals per species.</p

Towards a DNA Barcode Reference Database for Spiders and Harvestmen of Germany

<div><p>As part of the German Barcode of Life campaign, over 3500 arachnid specimens have been collected and analyzed: ca. 3300 Araneae and 200 Opiliones, belonging to almost 600 species (median: 4 individuals/species). This covers about 60% of the spider fauna and more than 70% of the harvestmen fauna recorded for Germany. The overwhelming majority of species could be readily identified through DNA barcoding: median distances between closest species lay around 9% in spiders and 13% in harvestmen, while in 95% of the cases, intraspecific distances were below 2.5% and 8% respectively, with intraspecific medians at 0.3% and 0.2%. However, almost 20 spider species, most notably in the family Lycosidae, could not be separated through DNA barcoding (although many of them present discrete morphological differences). Conspicuously high interspecific distances were found in even more cases, hinting at cryptic species in some instances. A new program is presented: DiStats calculates the statistics needed to meet DNA barcode release criteria. Furthermore, new generic COI primers useful for a wide range of taxa (also other than arachnids) are introduced.</p></div

Haplotype network of the species pair <i>Pardosa lugubris</i>/<i>saltans</i>.

<p>To guarantee unequivocal morphological determination, only males were included. Small black dot indicates a hypothetical haplotype.</p

Estimators used to characterize genetic distance structure in the dataset.

<p>Estimators used to characterize genetic distance structure in the dataset.</p

Haplotype network of three species of the <i>Alopecosa pulverulenta</i> group.

<p>To guarantee unequivocal morphological determination, only males were included (except for one female of <i>A</i>. <i>trabalis</i>). Small black dots indicate hypothetical haplotypes.</p

Geographic sampling of arachnid specimens underlying the present study.

<p>Image produced using GPS Visualizer (<a href="http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/" target="_blank">www.gpsvisualizer.com</a>).</p

List of primers used for amplification and sequencing of the 5' part of the mitochondrial COI gene.

<p>List of primers used for amplification and sequencing of the 5' part of the mitochondrial COI gene.</p

Number of species sampled per family (excluding families represented only by 1 or 2 species in this study).

<p>Numbers above bars are percentages showing species coverage for Germany, as derived from the checklists mentioned in the text. Family names prefixed with "O." belong to Opiliones, all others are spider families.</p

Statistics for closest species pairs and most distant congeneric pairs.

<p>Statistics for closest species pairs and most distant congeneric pairs.</p

Box plot of <i>p</i>-distances for the order Araneae.

<p>Sorted by distance category: between specimens of different genera (allogeneric), between specimens belonging to different species, but to the same genus (congeneric), and between specimens that belong to the same species (intraspecific). Boxes indicate interquartile range (IQR: between upper [Q3] and lower [Q1] quartile). Black bars designate medians, whiskers indicate values within 1.5 × IQR beneath Q1 or 1.5 × above Q3. Circles depict outliers (above or below 1.5 × IQR).</p